Kyiv, October 13, 2015. The situation in the ATO zone remained relatively calm over October 9-13. Russia-backed militant groups sporadically shot at Ukrainian positions in order to instigate provocations, said ATO Staff spokesperson Leonid Matyukhin via Skype at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
“On October 10 around 1 p.m. mercenaries started shooting from light arms near Mariupol on the temporarily occupied territory towards our position in Berdyanske settlement. The ATO forces did not return the fire. Nevertheless, later that evening some pro-Russian news agencies started alleging that Ukrainian troops violated the ceasefire and shot at civilian inhabited localities,” said Captain Matyukhin.
The ATO Staff spokesperson said that Ukrainian forces finished withdrawing artillery below 100mm on October 11 as a part of the first stage of withdrawal. “For instance, 85mm cannons were moved under OSCE supervision to designated areas at a distance of over 15 km,” he said.
Militants instigated armed provocations overnight October 11-12. “Russia-backed militants were shooting at our positions near Shyrokyne at 10:55 p.m. Moreover, they shot at our troops’ positions near Novotroyitske at 12:35-12:37 a.m.,” said Captain Matyukhin. He added that Ukrainian troops did not return the fire, in line with the Minsk Agreements.
Measures on finding explosive hazards and rendering them safe continue both at the frontline and in rear areas of the Donetsk sector. “In the past week, combat engineers of the 93th and 53th separate mechanized brigades found 406 82mm mines, 120 23mm cartridges, 65 30mm cartridges, one RPG-22 grenade and nine 152mm artillery shells. In total, 603 explosive hazards were destroyed,” said the ATO Staff spokesperson.
